Parents Visit - Bali

I was great that I had the opportunity to get away with Mom and Dad.  All our first time, we went to Bali.  We stayed inland in Ubud.  Our hotel (Green Field Hotel - recommended by a friend  www.greenfieldubud.com ) was conveniently located just south of the town.  It was so quiet and peaceful.   We had a gorgeous view of the rice paddies.

Lake Batur

The first day we explored the town - great shopping!!!!  The second day we went on a bike tour (also recommend by many of my friends - and I also recommend it!)  The company Eco-tours - picked us up from our hotels - there were 14 of us in the group.  We were driven near the active volcano and the lake of  Batur.  We had breakfast up there and then toured a fruit and spice garden.  We learned about Lewak coffee and tasted 6 different coffee.  I enjoyed Ginseng coffee.  Lewak coffee is basically coffee that a civet (animal) eats ripe coffee beans and then poops them out and what he poops out is the bean that is used to make coffee!  It was really  strong!

Dad planting rice

We finally got on our bikes.  It was a downhill ride so we used our hand muscles (braking) way more than our leg muscles!  We went through small villages and even went into a compound where a family lives.  19 people lived in this very small, 3rd world environment, unsanitary area.  We also stopped along rice fields and learned how rice is harvested.  Some of us (Dad and I) ventured with trying to plant the rice while we waded in knee deep mud and planted one rice grain at a time!  What a difficult job - in that mud, in the direct sun and bending over all day long.  No thank you!

Dad and 3 other people from our group decided they wanted a more physical workout of cycling than the nice downhill route we had enjoyed and rode the last 10 km up almost all uphill to the restaurant where we enjoyed the lunch which was provided in our tour.  While they exerted themselves, the rest of us chose to take the van to the restaurant!  The ride was extremely tough.

Our last day we did another activity - we took a cooking class.  We met the group of 14 people at the local market and learned about different spices and produce then went to the woman's house who does the lessons.  We all had different jobs of chopping, slicing, cooking, grinding and mixing.  It was very well laid out and everyone had ample opportunities to participate.www.paon-bali.com  Paon means kitchen in Balinese.  We made clear mushroom and vegetable soup (Kuah Wong), the basic yellow sauce for curry (Base Gede), minced chicken grilled on bamboo sticks (Sate Siap), Vegetables in Peanut Sauce (Kacang Me Santok), Coconut and Snake Bean Salad (Jukut Urab), Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves 9Pepesan Be Pasih), Deep Fried Tempe in sweet soy sauce (Tempe Me Goreng) AND Boiled Banana in Palm Sugar Syrup (Kolak Biu)!

Parents Visit - Singapore

It's been a busy (yet relaxing) past 2 weeks.  Mom and Dad arrived Jan.12 and Dad quickly found my favorite spot on the balcony and Mom and I immediately started our Scrabble games.  Day 1 they quickly learned my bus #77 route to downtown!  On the weekend, we did a hop-on-and-off tour bus of the city stopping at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to ride the elevator to floor 57 for a cocktail at the top and a great view of the city.  On Sunday afternoon we had a lovely time walking around in the orchid gardens. We had cocktails on the lawn in the Botanic Gardens as we listened to the Chinese Symphony Orchestra perform.  And then we had a lovely dinner at Helia in the Garden.

lawn of Botanic Gardens

While I worked, Mom and Dad did some more sightseeing, fixed some things in my apartment, discovered the wet market and therefore did some grocery shopping and found some new restaurants to try out.  We went to Chinatown a few days before Chinese New Year and tried about 10 different dishes of dim sum at a restaurant called Yum Cha Restaurant.  We had about 20 dim sum choices for dinner but at lunchtime, one can choose from 60 choices!

We also went to the Night Safari which was a perfect evening to go and we saw some really interesting animals!

As I had 3 days plus 2 days for the weekend off for Chinese New Year, Mom, Dad and I went to Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.  See next blog entry!

Visitors from Greece

Thanasis and Zacharias

Pavlina and Thanasis

No time to unpack as the very next morning I had my day pack and was heading to the bus to go downtown to meet a family I have known for 2 years in Greece.  I met them for breakfast at the Fullerton Bay Hotel.  Then Pavlina (mom) went shopping while Nicholas (dad), the boys and I went to Mount Faber.  We took a walk to the Henderson Waves Bridge then climbed aboard the cable car to take us to Sentosa Island.  After lunch we went to Underwater World (the aquarium).  They have pink dolphins here but what was really neat was the underwater tunnel you could walk through with all the fish, sting rays and sharks swimming above us!

The next day I headed back down to the island and we had a jammed pack day at Universal Studios and then took a swim under the stars (it sure didn't feel like the beginning of January!) With the location and the company, I didn't feel like I was in the country I lived in either so it was like a mini-vacation for me too!

It was great catching up with the family.  We had a great time!

Thailand - Last Day but first day of 2012

The first day of 2012 we drove 2 hours back to Bangkok.  After lunch, I took a water taxi down the river to the SkyLink (their metro) to go visit the famous Jim Thompson House.

Jim Thompson's House

Jim Thompson was an American from Delaware who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army - he was sent to Europe and then Asia - though the war ended before he saw any action.  He fell in love with Thailand and after leaving the army moved to Bangkok.  The art of weaving silk caught Jim Thompson's attention and he devoted himself to reviving the craft.  He was gifted as a designer and textile colorist, he significantly contributed to the industry's growth of silk.

He also became well-known for the construction of this house combining six teak traditional houses together. (Before the war, he was a practicing architect).  Similar to western houses (but different than Thai house) he combined the buildings so he could walk from the bedroom to the living room to the dining room.  Also he had the staircase inside the house.

Grand Palace

On March 26, 1967 Jim Thompson disappeared while on vacation in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.  He went for a walk in the woods (not telling anyone where he was going) and just disappeared.  Not a single valid clue has turned up on what happened to him.

For dinner we went on a river cruise and final dinner along the Chao Phraya River.  It was a nice way to see the buildings all lit up and it was another lovely evening!

Highlights of Thailand Group!

Jan. 2 - I had one of the best oil massages I have ever had, then got into a taxi to the airport and was home by 6:30pm!

Day 6 - Sukhothai Day 7 - Kanchanaburi

We rented bicycles to ride around Sukhotai Historical Park which is now a World Heritage Site.  The city of Sukhothai (meaning Dawn of Happiness) was the original capital of Thailand's first kingdom and is believed by many to represent the golden age of Thai civilization.  Then we had a home-cooked picnic before our 6 hour road trip to Kanchanaburi.



Dec. 31 - Kanchanaburi  (golden city) is most infamous for the death railway that was constructed during WWII using prisoners of war and Asian labor.

trishaw

Kanchanaburi War Cementery 

We took trishaws to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetry and walked through that before going to the Death Railway Museum (Thailand-Burma Railway Center) to learn more about what happened in this area during WWII.  Unfortunately Hellfire Pass Memorial was closed.

Basically, the story goes that  the British were the first to survey the track lines but decided it would be too difficult to build.  During WWII, the Japanese wanted to establish a supply route to Myanmar and India; as the route along the river was covered by thick forest, the Japanese thought it would be better protected.  The allies only bombed the railway in two places.  The track is 415 km long with about 263 km in Thailand.  Around 100,000 Asian laborers and 16, 000 POW died during the construction.

We then waited 2.5 hours for our 2 hour  train ride along the historic tracks through the area and over the 2 famous bridges over the Kwai River.  After a late lunch, we had the opportunity to walk over the metal bridge.

Since it was New Years Eve, we bought some booze and just hung out together having a great time.  We went down to the river (where we could see the bridge we had walked over) and some other people had some small fireworks and had the Chinese lanterns which we set off another for the new year!

It was a great way to end 2011 and begin 2012!

Majestic Elephants

I was so looking forward to this day - the day I ride an elephant.  But do you know what?  That was not my highlight of the day.  The highlight for me was the opportunities I had to touch and feed the elephants.  It was fantastic!

We were able to touch the heads of the elephants and the trunks; we took photos with them and the trainers encouraged the elephants to put up their trunks and play around with us humans!  Then we watched the elephants take their morning baths and many of them came out of the water and squirted water at us.  So much fun!

We then watched the elephant show which showcased what elephants can do, such as, raise a flag on a flagpole to play instruments (xylophone, harmonica and drums) to move and pick up logs to painting!  Three elephants painted pictures which people from my group all bought (including me).  We then had the opportunity to feed the elephants and click more photos.   Then we rode the elephants for about 30 minutes in a forest in the conservation center.   It was an unforgettable day!

Chiang Mai - Temples, Rafting and Cooking

steps to Doi Suthep

Friday Buddha

After 13 hour train ride we arrived in Chiang Mai about 8am.  We loaded up our 2 vans and headed to town for breakfast and a walk through the local central market.  Then we headed to  Doi Suthep, one of northern Thailand's most sacred temples.  Legend has it that the king/emperor rode a white elephant and said when the elephant stops that is where I will build a temple.  So the elephant walked and walked and walked.  He walked up this hill, turned around 3 times and laid down and died.  So we climbed the 300 steps to the temple; tried to walk around the temple 3 times as that was good luck, poured oil in the lamps to help something?, saw our personal Buddha which corresponded with the day we were born (I was born on a Friday); and walked around the area with the locals and other tourists.

bamboo rafting

off to market we go

Then we grabbed something to nibble on, loaded up the vans and drove 2 hours to go bamboo rafting.  We had not gone to our hotel at this point and we were all a little irritable.  However, once the rafting started our wearies were diminished as we tested our balance and skill of steering the rafts.  Hopefully more photos will come as only one person had a waterproof camera.


10 out of 12 of us decided to go to the Thai cooking class (the others went for a bike ride).  What a fabulous day we had.  We first chose the meals we wanted to cook - there were 4 categories: stir-fry, appetizers, soups and curries; and there were 3 choices per category.  Then we were all given baskets and we walked to the local market to gather our ingredients.  Our leader/teacher showed and explained the differences between peppers, mushrooms, noodles and other ingredients.  Then we headed back.  There were 2 other groups also at the school and so when it was time to chop and cook our recipes everyone went to the kitchen and so we were all mixed up.  But it was so organized.  We all had our ingredients ready (to make one serving each), an individual wood block and knife to chop and then an individual wok to cook it.  So I made Fried Noodles thai Style (aka Pad thai); spring rolls; chicken in coconut soup; and Chaingmai Noodle (aka Kao-Soy).  So not only did we make these dishes we then ate them right afterwards too.  I was stuffed! We also got a great recipe book, so there is definitely potential for me to make these again.  And now I have a new outlook to my wok! The place was called BannThai - www.baanthaicookery.com  I highly recommend it if you are in the area!

Esther, me, Esther - Chiangmai Noodles

Now if we didn't eat enough in one day, we then in the evening went to a traditional khan toke dinner and watched traditional dancers and entertainers.  The day/evening ended with the group letting off 2 lanterns into the dark sky.  We made wishes and sent them on their way!

lanterns